Antenor assorati



(No Model.)

A. ASSORATI.

CLASP.

'No. 468,633. Patented Feb. 9, 1892..

WITNESSES l/VI/E/VTOI? o/mm ATTORNEYS.

1 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANTENOR ASSORATI, OF NElV YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO ARTHUR CUYAS,

OF SAME PLACE.

CLASP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 468,633, dated February 9, 1892.

Application filed June 3,1891.

To all whom, it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ANTENOR ASSORATI, of New York city, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Clasps or Buttons, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to an improvement in clasps, and has for its object to provide a device of simple, durable, and economic construction capable of use wherever abuttonis required, and especially applicable for closing and locking in a closed position the pockets of garments.

A further object of the invention is to provide as a pocket-clasp a device comprising two sections locked and unlocked by inward pressure upon the outer section, thus rendering it impossible for a pocket to be opened when locked by the device without warning or notification to the person wearing the garment containing the pocket.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the Views. Figure 1 is a plan view of theblank from which one section of the deviceis made, which section I propose calling a latch-section. Fig. 2is an elevation of the outer face of the latch-section. Fig. 3 is an elevation of the inner face of the keeper-section, adapted to engage with the latch-section. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken upon the line 4t 40f Fig. 2, and Fig. 5 is a vertical section taken practically on the line 5 5 of Fig. 2. Fig. 6 is a front elevation of a slightly-modified form of thedevice, illustratingsaid device in a position permitting one section to be disengaged from the other; and Fig. 7 is a horizontal section on the line 7 '7 of Fig. 6, the two sections being illustrated as locked.

The device is constructed in two sections, a keeper-section A and a latch-section B. The keeper-section consists of a plate 10 of any desired shape, but preferably rectangular or Serial No. 394,902. (No model.)

polygonal, and provided with araised panel 11 upon its outer face, as shown in Fig. 3. The outer face of the panel is usually made fiat. Two studs 12 and 13 are attached to or are integral with the panel, one at each side of the center in longitudinal alignment. The stud 12 is a keeper-stud, and in one face a recess 14 is produced to receive a latch, hereinafter described, and the other stud may be denominated a tripstud, as it is adapted to release the latch from the keeper-stud, and the outer end of the trip-stud is usually made .conical.

The latch-section B comprises a plate 15, round, rectangular, or of other shape, struck up or otherwise manipulated to form a convexed inner face and a concaved or dished outer face, and a spring-latch 16, located upon the outer face of the plate. The plate 15 is provided withtwo apertures 17 and 18, so located and spaced that when the two sections are brought in engagement each aperture 111 the section B will receive a post or stud of the section A.

The latch is usually made somewhat U- shaped, one end being fastened to the plate and the other end being free. The free member of the latch when the latter is in its normal position passes across both apertures 1n the section B, the extremity of said free member crossing the aperture through which the keeper-stud projects nearer the center than the aperture through which the trip stud is adapted to extend.

In the preferred form of latch-section shown in Fig. 2 the plate is provided at opposite sides with tongues 19 and 20, one longer than the other. One member of the latch is socured to the longer tongue 19, and said tongue is then folded transversely over the front face of the section, thereby bringing the free end of the latch over the apertures and the secured end at one side of the apertures, as is likewise best shown in Fig. 2. The shorter tongue 20 is bent over upon the longer one, making a secure lock for the latter.

In the construction of the latch shown in Fig. 6 one end of the spring-latch is attached directly to the body-plate of the section between its apertures and the free end is carried over the apertures. Both sections may besewed to the garment, in which event their body-plates are provided with holes 21 for the passage of thread, or one or both sections have short spurs 22, formed as an'integral portion thereof, adapted to be pressed through the material from which the garment receiving the device is made, and the inner ends of the spurs are clinched in'any approved manner.

In the operation of attaching the device to a pocket, for instance, the keeper-section A is attached to the inner face of the inner wall of the pocket and the latch-section to the inner face of the outer wall in such a manner that when the outer face of the pocket is pressed thetwosectionswill be broughtintoengagement. By imparting to one section-the the latch-section, for instance-a convexed or round outer face it rocks upon the panel of the keeper-section. Thus in fastening the device to lock the pocket the latch-section is pressed in upon the keeper-section, causing both of the posts or studs of the keeper-section to enter the apertures in the latch-section. The trip-post will press the free end of the spring-latch outward a sufficient distance to be entirely out of connection with the keeper-post as it passes through the latch-plate. \Vhen pressure upon the device is discontinued, the spring returns to its normal position and willrockthe latch-sectionupon the keepersection, forcing the trip-post outward'by elevating the end of the latch-section adjacent to the post, and the spring Will thereupon enter the recess in the keeper-post. To unlock the device, the outer section is again pressed inward in the same manner as when a locking contact is to take place. By so doing the trippost disengages the spring from the keeperpost and the two sections may be separated.

It is evident that as the device is locked and unlocked by an inward pressure a decided alarm or notice will be given to any party whose pocket is provided with the device in the event that another person should attempt to open the pocket.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. As an improved article of manufacture, a button or clasp constructed in two sections one having a locking contact with the other, said sections comprising a keeper-section provided with a trip and a keeper post and a latchsection provided with apertures to receive said posts, and a spring secured to one end of the latch-section, the free end of which crosses the apertures, and when the two sections of the clasp are in contact engages with the keeperposts only, whereby the two sections of the clasps are locked and unlocked by the same movement-namely, by inward pressure.

2. A button or clasp constructed in two sections, a keeper-section provided with a trippost and a keeper-post and a latch-section consisting of a plate having a convexed or round inner face and a dished outerface and provided with apertures to receive the posts, and a spring secured to the plate, the free end of which spring passes across the apertures and is adapted for engagement with both posts, as and for the purpose specified.

3. In a button or clasp, the combination,

with a keeper-section having a flat outer face and a keeper and a trip post secured to said face, of a latch-section having a convexed or round inner face adapted to rock upon the straight face of the keeper-section and provided with apertures to receive the posts of the keeper-section, a spring secured at one end to the dished surface of the latch-section, the free end of which spring crosses the apertures in said section and is adapted for engagement with the posts of the keeper-section, and means, substantially as described, for securing the sections to a garment, as and for the purpose specified.

4. In a button or clasp, the combination, with a keeper-section consisting of a plate provided with a raised panel having a smooth outer face and a keeper and a trip stud secured upon said panel, of a latch-section consisting of a plate having a convexed inner face and a dished outer face and provided with apertures to receive the posts of the keeper-section, a tongue integral with the plate and folded over upon its outer or dished surface, and a spring secured to the said tongue, the free end of which is adapted to cross the apertures, as and for the purpose specified.

ANTENOR ASSORATI.

Witnesses:

EDWD. M. CLARK, J. FRED. AOKER. 

